It couldn't happen today but – you can be sure – it happened before the Blueshirts played their first ever home game. There were two imposters in the lineup. 

One was the goalie Lorne Chabotsky and the other was a defenseman named Ollie Rocco. So how did this all happen?

When the Rangers arrived in New York, boss Lester Patrick was introduced to Johnny Bruno, who happened to be Madison Square Garden's boxing publicist who now also was press agent for the Blueshirts. 

"Mr. Patrick," said Mister Bruno, "I'd like to review your lineup and find a player or two that I could promote in the papers and start making new fans."

Lester took Johnny's list and recognized his regulars – Bill Cook, Bun Cook, Frank Boucher, Ching Johnson, Taffy Abel. Suddenly Patrick stopped cold and turned a jaundiced eye on Bruno.

"Who are these fellows?" Lester demanded.

"Which guys are you talking about, Mister Patrick," Bruno snapped back. "I'm talking about LORNE CHABOTSKY and OLLIE ROCCO!"

Good tub thumper that Johnny Bruno was, the press agent explained that he felt obliged to turn the Roman Catholic French-Canadian Lorne Chabot into an observant Jew who also could stop pucks.

Before Lester could swallow his tongue, Bruno noted that Rocco actually was of Finnish descent and his real label was Reinkka.

Bruno: "There are a lotta Jews in this city and they'd love to see one of your Rangers wear a Star of David. Plus, the city is loaded with Italians. They'd be more attracted to a Rocco than a Reinkka, don't ya think?"

Lester's brain was too mashed to think but then the Rangers boss realized that he was from Victoria, British Columbia, a mere village compared to The Big Apple. 

Sure enough, such august broadsheets like the New York Times printed the Johnny Bruno version of the lineup: GOAL: CHABOTSKI; DEFENSE: BRUNO.

"Bruno got away with the gag until the Rangers visited Toronto and Montreal," said original Rangers historian Stan Saplin. "But the Canadian hockey writers could not be fooled. By the time the Blueshirts returned to Broadway, Chabotsky converted -- or reverted to his real name.

"Ditto for Ollie, who happily became Reinkka once again. In the end, the sham turned into a good running gag and nobody got hurt; except that Johnny Bruno didn't know when to stop."

Before the Rangers' 1926  World Premiere, Bruno knocked again on Patrick's door with an even crazier schemes.